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Chapter Thirty: Mind Games

Leporis drove rather slowly before pulling up in front of my apartment complex. I thanked him for the evening and just as I was getting out, he grabbed my wrist.

"Are you…free next weekend?" He asked rather properly and I swallowed hard, looking straight at him.

Before I could say anything, he looked away and straightened his collar," Ah, I see. You're another one of those."

"A what?" I asked, not even getting a single word in.

"Another female who doesn't appreciate me enough to go on a second date," He said, not even looking at me. "Please, remove yourself from my vehicle unless you plan on changing your answer."

I would have just left, but my heart was bleeding slightly for him," You know…you don't really deserve me anyways. I mean, did you see how unprofessional I was back there?"

"Everyone has a little too much to drink every now and again," He grumbled.

"You see, that's the funny part. I didn't drink anything alcoholic back there. I'm just that strange," I said, trying to show Leporis that this truly was for the best. "And…I'm not embarrassed, though I'm sure I will have to explain my actions sometime."

"To Seneca Crane?" He asked, looking at me with a raised brow.

"Yes, more than likely," I answered simply. "And my future employers…"

He appeared to be scoffing at me as said," Good luck with that, Miss Stone. Now, please I do believe I have places to go."

I took this subtle hint quickly before climbing out of the vehicle and saying goodbye to the strange little man once and for all. As he sped off, I shook my head and bent over to slip off my shoes that were killing my feet. I hardly cared if the residents gave me weird looks…not only had I made a fool of myself in front of my future co-workers, but I more than likely made Seneca Crane very unhappy with me.

Sure enough, as I traveled through the luxurious apartment complex, entered my apartment, tossed my shoes into my closet, scrubbed my face clean of all the makeup, and dropped myself on my bed, I noticed yet another restaurant card sitting atop of my pillow.

"We need to talk."


That next day was my first day of work at the Capitol Intelligence Agency, whose building was highly classified. So classified that I was escorted to work in a tinted vehicle. To this day, I could not tell you on my own where this building was located. Supposedly, only a select few knew the exact location.

Nevertheless, upon walking into the entirely black lobby with shiny, sleek floors and walls alike, I was very impressed. Everything was high-tech and made me a little nervous to touch anything. Carefully, I followed my escort to the front desk where there were several receptionists in what appeared to be white coats. They most certainly stood out next to the all-black room.

The driver explained who I was and what I was to be doing there while I looked around, examining my new workplace.

"Miss Stone?" One of the receptionists asked me and I shot my head in their direction.

"Yes?" I answered, looking at the tan-skinned woman holding a clipboard as she stepped out from behind the desk.

"Please, follow me," She said without much emotion as she led me to one of the walls. I was puzzled as she stood in front of it, but soon after she held her hand out as a scanner appeared as well as a slider for a badge above it. While holding one hand down, she slid the card down the slider above.

"This is your badge," She said dryly, shoving it into my hand as a passage appeared from seemingly no where in front of us. "Don't lose it. You only get one."

"Alright," I said simply, clutching it tightly as she continued.

"The key to getting to your workplace is watching your schedule that will be sent to your personal data receiver at your home…every day the location of the entrance to the working area changes," She explained to me.

I nodded without saying a word, watching as we walked down the black hallway, as we walked rooms began appearing. The rooms were nearly entirely transparent, I could see each of the workers as they worked away. I noticed an electronic lettering floating above each of the doorways. The first one read:

DISTRICT TWELVE

Just as I was going to question this, the lady explained.

"You will see that as we go deeper into the complex, you will see more rooms. Each room is dedicated to each individual district. You will be assigned to your home district, therefore, you will be able to see most of the complex for we have quite a ways to walk."

As she started rambling, I noticed one room just beside District Twelve's…it was dark and not transparent, but the electronic words were still dimly flickering as I slowly strolled by.

DISTRICT THIRTEEN

I studied the sign for several seconds, hardly realizing that I had stopped.

"Yes, we do still monitor District Thirteen," The woman said, confirming my suspicions.

"But…there's nothing-" I started, but she cut me off.

"There is still rubble. That is much more than nothing. And Miss Stone, you will find that anything outside of your assigned district is simply none of your business. You are to do your duty, report it to the main hub, and then ask no questions until you prove yourself worthy of asking questions. Do well in your district, then you may be of enough value to venture into the others. Don't get too excited though…very few actually work in the main hub of the intelligence branch. Many of them are Gamemakers whom you see working the Hunger Games each year, but not all of them are," She explained as we continued walking past more rooms, that truly were more than simply a little room. They were almost a complex within the complex.

"You will find that your district works like a hierarchy," She explained to me, as I looked inside one of the rooms, this was evident. There were several men and women in very nice clothing sitting in a circle in the middle of the complex. Further around the room, there were others crammed into tiny desks and sitting in front of massive television screens.

The television screens caught my attention…I noticed they were literally looking into certain individuals homes and the streets of the districts. This seemed like quite a violation of privacy, a luxury only those living in the Capitol seemed to know. Just as I thought that, I passed by a room labeled:

THE CAPITOL

Again, I stopped and stared at the very large and intricate room.

"Yes, we keep an eye on certain individuals in the Capitol, as well," She said simply, stopping with me.

"What is the reasoning? Hasn't the Capitol always been trustworthy?" I asked boldly.

"There are certain individuals that President Snow wishes for us to monitor more closely, but for the most part…yes. If you were to enter that room, then you would see that the streets of the Capitol are far less watched as the streets of say…twelve," She drawled, holding her clipboard close to her chest.

"Understandable," I stated quietly as we strolled along.

With every passing of rooms and a quick peer inside, it sent chills down my spine. I always had this eerie feeling that the Capitol was some sort of all-seeing eye that watched our every move, but I never knew it was true until that moment. From glimpses at the screen, there was very little that wasn't seen by these people. I presumed that only the drastic outliers in behavior were reported, however. I doubt they had the energy to punish every single little troublemaker they spotted.

"This room on the left is where the Gamemakers gather to control the games. Just a matter of weeks ago, there was very little coming or going out of this room. The Head Gamemaker is the only one I know of that actually has privileges during the Games to go and see their family," She explained to me as I looked at the tall, locked doors.

It was haunting to think of all the discussions that went on behind those doors.

"And this…this is your new sector," She said, with an actual smile on her face as she knocked on the door and scanned her badge.

Quickly, a young man with glasses came sprinting to the door to let us in. He greeted us both quickly before leading me on to where I was supposed to work. After departing from my guide, I walked with this new young man.

"Welcome to the District Two control room. As you can see, we are the brains behind everything that goes on in the district. Now, today is a particularly busy day here in the complex, therefore, I don't have the time to get you completely situated with your surroundings, but…I can show you your new desk," He explained quickly, walking very fast toward one of the back corners.

I was less than thrilled when I saw an old, dusty desk sitting in the back corner with a very dated television screen that seemed to be flickering. I was sure that upon looking at it that it was simply a circuit problem…nothing that would take too long to fix. The picture on the screen was of what appeared to be the block just outside of the Peacekeeper's complex, but I couldn't be for certain.

"Is there something wrong with…?" I trailed off, looking at the frantic young man.

"Listen, unless you know how to rewire this entire system in less than two minutes, we're losing all power and are going to have to shut down for the day. It's the third time this week and the boss says we aren't getting any help anytime soon. If security levels drop in District Two, President Snow is going to have my neck. So, I have no interest in your questions unless its about fixing the main circuit," He snipped at me as he turned his back.

I found that I would be getting no explanation as to what exactly I was to do until the entire system was fixed. I looked around to see that even the more advanced screens were flickering, no nearly as bad my little one, but still malfunctioning.

"Where's the main power source?" I asked, boldly stepping after him.

He looked me up and down as though I were insane before saying," Follow me."

I was close on his coattails as he led me to a large computer screen that was located in the center of the room. Several technicians were piled around its underside, where many colorful lights were flashing in no particular order.

"Gentleman, we've someone who wants to give the power box a look," He said to the lot of them.

When they looked at me, surprise would have been an understatement for the looks on their faces. Slowly, they removed themselves as they took a break and muttered to each other their frustration over both the malfunctions and this new person coming in to look at their work thus far. The scrawny man invited me to take a look for myself.

Despite the complexity of the computers above, the system that ran them all was rather basic after I realized what was connected to where. I located the problem rather quickly and saw the flashing lights and wires were tangled around one another. Honestly, my thoughts were moving so fast that I hardly remember the exact order in which I remedied the situation, but in a matter of minutes, I was backing out of the power box and wiping my hands off as the pictures across the complex returned to normal.

Satisfied with my work, I looked to the man in charge of the complex as he strolled over to the technicians who had been working for what appeared to be hours. Swiftly, he grabbed their badges from their coats.

"I'm sorry to inform you that your position has been filled," He said simply, looking at the lot of them. "Don't bother coming back."

They all gaped at him for several seconds before they all slowly got up and sauntered out of the complex. My jaw nearly hit the floor as I realized what had happened. The boss looked at me and smiled before shaking my hand," Welcome to the team, Miss Stone. Allow me to present you with your first promotion. Enjoy your new desk."

He knocked on the very nice desk with a much larger computer screen atop of it. I thanked him before sitting down and letting the reality hit me that I was working for the Capitol.

For some odd reason, I couldn't help but think back to Seneca Crane's words as I looked around at the amazing complex. From the exterior, life in the Capitol was without complaints…but I seemed to be entering into the interior of the world of Capitol-living. How could a system that seems so...professional be so corrupt. Truly it wasn't that hard to ponder when you thought of the event that they celebrated each year...but still.

"I'm bound to a system that I despise."

His words haunted me even as I left my first day and returned to my apartment.


Later that evening, I was sitting in another very chic restaurant in the Capitol as I waited for Seneca to arrive. This eatery was much less formal and much more…casual. Surprisingly enough, I had arrive before Mr. Crane and was awaiting his arrival for several minutes. As he strolled into the restaurant with his all-black attire, I bit down on my lip to try to calm the nerves that had built up.

As he adjusted his tie, he pulled his chair back and took a seat across from me.

"I hope you will excuse my being late," He said smoothly. "I had a discussion with Vibia and her family that needed to be done."

"Ah," I said with a raise of my brow. "How is she?"

He glared at me long and hard, not saying anything for a while before he said," Absolutely terrible."

I swallowed hard before taking a sip of the water on the table and gently saying," Oh."

I watched him bite the inside of his cheek, clearly irritated," Your actions were completely unnecessary."

My jaw nearly dropped to the ground," I did not intentionally drop a tray of food on your date."

He narrowed his eyes," She seems to think you did."

"I bumped into the tray, Seneca. Please, what would be my reasoning for doing such a thing intentionally? Even you know that I'm not one to willingly draw the spotlight to myself," I said, breaking eye contact with him.

He chuckled at this as he leaned back in his chair," Or you were trying to make a point."

I raised a brow," Do tell. What precisely was I trying to prove?"

"You were angered by what I said last time. Or not so much angered as…untrustworthy. You think I'm playing mind games with you and I think your actions from the banquet were you attempting to fight back," He shot at me quickly.

I took a deep breath in as I looked into his piercing blue eyes. It was an interesting theory to say the least. It certainly wasn't true, but I could piece together as to why he had this theory. Again, I raised a brow as I leaned forward toward him.

"First of all, I'm not necessarily trustworthy of words that come out of anyone's mouth whom I've just met and secondly, don't you think that, theoretically, if I were trying to play mind games with you over this mess, I've technically already won. You see, if I were trying to do such a thing, it seems to have worked already. Or perhaps, I'm not playing mind games at all. You're just simply over thinking this whole ordeal that truly is a matter of my clumsy side running into a waiter and dumping beverages all over your lovely date," I said with a smirk as he leaned back, a hand on the side of his face as he scrutinized me.

He gaped at me several times before saying," You are…ridiculous."

"Me? You're the one making mad assumptions out of nothing," I shot back at him.

"Okay, fine, Savera. Say the first time was an accident, the second time certainly was not," He fired back.

I shrugged," She flung food at me. Do you not remember that part?"

He was seething. I watched as he bit down hard on his lip and shook his head. Before our waiter could even come to our table, he was already getting up to make an exit.

"I can't believe that I actually stood up for you," He growled at me as he started to turn.

I wanted to just let him leave, let him storm off over the assumptions that he was making. I knew deep down…that I could never live with myself if I did that, however. It is for this reason that I cleared my throat just as he took the first step away.

"I thought about what you said," I spoke simply and quietly, waiting for his reaction.

I watched him breathing heavily, staring at the exit. He had the opportunity to leave me sitting there, but I watched as he turned to look at me. Clearly, he was still upset, but not nearly as he had been before.

"About being bound to the system and whatnot," I said, looking at him briefly. "I think I might understand what you're saying, but I'm in no position to say anything more at the moment."

There was another long pause as he debated staying or leaving.

"First day on the job?" He asked, chewing the inside of his cheek still.

"Yes, and already I feel something is…" I said softly, trailing off as I spoke.

"Slightly askew?" He offered, taking a step closer. His voice was still tense, this much I could tell. It appeared as though I had struck the right chord in grabbing his attention.

"To say the least," I answered.

I could tell that he was battling many emotions as he stood in front of me. He seemed to wish to say something and then he would bite back his words. I watched him for quite some time and I'm sure the other folks in the restaurant were wondering what exactly was wrong with him, as well. Eventually, he looked me straight in the eye.

"Will you take a walk with me?" He asked, as if it were a weight being lifted off his shoulders.

"Depends," I answered, looking at him still. "Are you going to accuse me of playing mind games again?"

A small smirk came to his lips," Depends."

And with that, I stood from my chair and pushed it in. Clearly, neither Seneca Crane nor myself were going to be eating dinner that evening.

A/N: I wanted to keep on going with this chapter, but I knew that if I didn't cut it here, then it would keep on going forever so please let me know what you think! I worked hard on this one…getting the details right and whatnot. Life is starting to get busy again thanks to tennis! Thanks for reading! :D